


Overthinker

by pixxa_rolls



Category: The Hollow (Cartoon)
Genre: Amnesia, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Male Character, Existential Crisis, Fluff and Angst, Lost Love, Multi, Or not, Temporary Amnesia, vanessa needs help
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:42:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26243611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pixxa_rolls/pseuds/pixxa_rolls
Summary: When a doughnut feud turns into temporary memory loss and the game resets. What happens when only two remember their past but the other three elect to forget?"Remember yourself, dude! Because I can't be the only one to remember about us!"in aid of the #savethehollow because I am beyond PISSED that The Hollow has been cancelled on Netflix! Go help raise the petition signing! We can't let this go!
Relationships: Adam/Kai (The Hollow), Adam/Reeve (The Hollow), Kai/Mira (The Hollow), Kai/Vanessa (The Hollow), Mira/Vanessa (The Hollow), skeet - Relationship
Comments: 11
Kudos: 43





	1. in which Adam reflects on Hollow Life

**Author's Note:**

> THIS IS TO SPREAD AWARENESS OF THE HOLLOW BEING CANCELLED  
> also, this is what I would expect season three to sort of being like. or it's more like my coping with season two coming out and I wrote this in my diary and never put it anywhere!

Digital life was going as well as any life did.

School, hanging out with friends, arguments, betrayal, make up, make out, did I mention school? An average day for more than average teens. 

But Adam was bored. Maybe beyond bored. With going through teenage adolescence, puberty being a swift breeze (unlike poor Vanessa who’s face could rival the moon’s surface), he was getting fed up with his friend’s ridiculous arguments. This week’s main article was Kai’s stolen doughnut. Singular. And the person who took it didn’t even eat the whole thing by himself. Reeves took it, split it, split both halves again and shared it out within Vanessa, Mira, himself and Adam. Other than eating that bit, hardly even slice but more of a crumb, he was innocent. Except for perhaps… daring Reeves to do it in the first place. Perhaps. 

On top of that, Kai was annoyed with him the most. Why? He didn’t know. It hurt him, he hadn’t realised how much it hurt him until first period Frida when he called out to him and he didn’t reply. When he sat down next to him during lunch he stood up and moved. But most importantly, it hurt when he laughed at Kai’s joke, genuinely laughing, and Kai stopped.

His Kai stopped laughing. It was like the world came crashing down with the look in  _ his  _ eyes. 

What was his deal? It wasn’t like Kai was supposed to laugh all the time, that was just stupid, but why did hs smile disappear when everyone else’s remained? Maybe Adam was overthinking, his anxiety creeping into the best of him. 

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Lying on his bed was the only peace and quiet he got nowadays, with the dog tangled up in his legs and the window opened for some fresh air. He shook his head, knocking out any of the stupid thoughts that would even try to get their way through him. It didn’t matter anymore. Hopefully, this time next Monday they would be back to joking around again on Monday, just like usual. But thoughts would still linger in Adams mind…

Suddenly, his phone started to buzz, making his whole desk to make a deep burring sound. Vibrations echoed into his room until he rolled over to the top of his bed and picked it up. The caller ID was just a number so he pressed the red button and dumped it down again. Almost immediately it started to ring again and Adam groaned. It seemed that he couldn’t at least get an hour of peace. 

He picked up his arm again and pressed the green button with the speaker on.

“Hello?”

“Adam, somethings happened.”


	2. in which vanessa panics

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS TO SPREAD AWARENESS OF THE HOLLOW BEING CANCELLED  
> chapters will get longer I promise

“If this is some sort of joke Vanessa, it’s not funny,” Adam growled, lying back and kicking off his shoes. “How did you even get my number?”

“No, something bad his happening- happened?” She groaned. “I don’t know, it just is!” At this point, it sounded as if she was spitting absolute nonsense, but the panic was clear in her voice. 

“Ok, just chill for a second. Deep breathes.” A couple of seconds silence over the lin and Adam almost thought that he had lost her until he heard a giant sigh. “Alright, what’s the problem?”

“Kai doesn’t remember me.”

Adams brow furrowed, immediately tensing up. What? No way he could be that petty over a doughnut. Come on, ignoring someone is one thing but pretending to completely forget someone?

“That has got to be a joke.”

“No, it isn’t.” Adam could hear her gulping air down before she spoke again. It seemed like she was running or something. “I know what happened. He wasn’t outside the cafe we normally meet at on Saturdays.”

“Wait, you guys meet up on Saturdays?”

“Yes, shut up and listen!” She hissed. “So I went to his house to make sure than he hadn’t, I don’t know, died or something and the guy had the nerve to have his butler kick me out!”

“Maybe he’s just pretending,” Adam suggested, sitting up finally. “I mean, he is angry at us.”

Vanessa let out a snort, her panting finally finishing. “Yeah, he might be at you but he’s forgiven all of us.”

Adam’s breath hitched. He what? Oh so it was fine with all of them but he had to earn back his forgiveness. He bit back his anger so he didn’t lash out at the girl on the phone.

“Please Adam, you’re the only one I know that is as close to him as me, excluding Mira because she isn’t picking up her phone. Can you please help check up on him with me? I’m worried.” A vulnerability lingered in her voice, it softened him. Yeah, she might have started a chain reaction and nearly messed up their entire digital existence, but he was still her friend… ish, and Kai was important to him. So he figured that he might not owe it to Vanessa but to his best friend. 

“Ok, meet me by his street in 20 minutes.”

“Thank you, Adam.”

“Don’t thank me just yet.


	3. in which adam gets unwanted guests and overthinks yet again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS TO SPREAD THE NEWS THAT THE HOLLOW WAS CANCELLED WHICH IS OUTRAGEOUS!  
> There is a petition on Instagram in @savethehollow 's bio, please help save this wonderful show that has helped me so much!

Once Adam was dressed, he raced downstairs and into the front room. It was empty, his mum our and his had in his small office. He had to be quiet, especially since he and his dad weren’t on particularly good terms with him, his dad. So, he gently tiptoed across the room, down the hallway and into the kitchen. Pancake batter was sitting on the side and the newspaper was lying open on the dinner table. Wait. A loud grunt made Adam whirl around, jumping with fright.

His dad stared at him, just a little taller than his son but technically the same height. It was beyond awkward as they silently stared at each other. Both of them dared the other to say something first because once they did the other would be prepared to snap with the same ferocity. 

Of course, none did, so after a while, Adam just proceeded to roll his eyes as obviously at he could and continue to make some toast. He never liked to entertain the idea of his dad trying to intimidate him, but it made him laugh at the way his tiny homophobic mind would always persuade him to try. And, subconsciously, that buried a small voice in the back of Adams's head. That he wasn’t good enough for his family, or of any friends. 

When he signed up for The Hollow, he said he played to win. He thought, if he won, the fame and glory would be all his. It was anyone could want really. But once he got stuck in the digital world of Hollow Life, he finally came to terms with his true reasons of wanting to win the Hollow. Acceptance and appreciation from his dad, and from anyone who thought wrong of him for just being himself. 

In his eyes, if he couldn’t be the perfect straight son with A grades, captain of the Football team and a 5-star girlfriend, then perhaps he should become the hero who won the Hollow instead. It sounded good enough, so he continued on with his fantasy. He had succeeded too, but then he was only dumped in this world where the Hollow never existed and he was continued to be seen as the idiot boy, who could have had it all, except his sexual preference was something “abnormal”. The life of ‘The Hollow Hero’ left behind and far out of his reach.

The toast popped up from the toaster, making the teenager flinch slightly. He pulled out a jar of peanut butter, dipping in a spoon and slopping it onto the piece of bread. He then proceeded to spread it across the bread while he sucked the spoon and wondered when his dad would stop glaring holes into his back. 

No. He refused to be seen as “abnormal”; the stereotypical gay that loved anything unmasculine because that was toxic masculinity. And if Adam was proud of anything, it was how proud and confident he was about his masculinity. He dumped the spoon into the sink and reached for the kettle only to stop halfway when the doorbell rang. 

Adams dad was first to get there, it was as if he moved at the speed of light. He opened the door with a bright smile (something Adam didn’t see much of nowadays) but once he saw who it was, it withered. He grinned at Adam but it looked more like he was baring gritted teeth. “Your delinquent friends are here.” Maybe it was a good time to mention that his dad dislikes his friends too.

Adam frowned, at both what his father had said and wondering who was at the door. If it was Vanessa why didn’t she just wait where they decided to meet (he forgot that she didn’t know where he lived) but when he saw Mira and Reeve standing in the doorway he had to do a hard blink. “What’s up?” Mira sounded weirdly upbeat for nine in the morning but Adam decided to ignore that. 

“Uh, what are you guys doing here?” 

What was Reeves doing here? Yeah sure they had made up but they still weren’t close enough yet that Adam wanted him round his house (fearing that they might fall out and Reeve would decide to strangle him). 

“Uh, movie marathon? We do it every Saturday?” Reeve looked unimpressed. “Come on, let us in.” He tried to barge past Adam but he put his foot in the way and his arm across the doorway. 

No way they were coming in until he got answers.


	4. in which adam freaks out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS TO SPREAD AWARE ABOUT THE HOLLOW BEING CANCELLED  
> it really is a shame though The Hollow was such a precious show, it makes me physically in pain to know what it's not going to be continued. We could of have a proper ending but no, it was le at just... a halt. Not a bad ending but it felt rather incomplete. But that could just be the part of me hoping that there was more speaking. I don't know. It just doesn't feel as if it should have ended this way.

“Come on man, let us in.”

“Not until you answer my questions.” Adam wasn’t sure if this was some stupid practical joke that Kai, Reeve and Mira were all in on, but he wasn’t finding it in the least amusing. 

“Well, let us in and perhaps we can answer your ‘questions’.” Mira folded her arms. Something Adam had watched her do loads of times once she got serious. 

“Guys, we haven’t met up like this since we got here?” They exchanged a look.

“Adam, we’ve always been doing this since… forever,” Reeve said. “I can’t even remember how it all started- and what do you mean since we got here? Are you ok?”

He was shocked. And for a moment, he got pissed. 

“Yes, I’m ok!” He growled. “Out of everyone, you two are the ones who have gone mad!” Their expressions shifted again. The tension was high, so Adam decided that he should go a different way about this before he started losing his temper. Ask the questions, grasp the ends of at least some straws. He swallowed hard. 

“Sorry, so what do we do? Normally I mean.”

Again the visitors shared a look before casually explaining.

“Uh hand out?”

“Watch movies?”

“Play video games?”

“What else do you want us to say?”

Adam leaned against the door frame. “What’s the date?”

“June 1st.” Wait for what.

“What?”

Reeve groaned a sound that triggered Adam’s reflex instinct but bit it down. “June 1st man, what else do you want me to say?”

“W-what's the year?”

“Oh for god’s sake, now he’s stuttering.” Mira slapped his shoulder and turned to Adam in concern. 

“Adam, are you alright-”

“What's the year?” Adam shouted, almost frantically. Mira flinched, pulling her arm back in. 

“2018.”

No way. Adams toast fell from his grasp and he bolted through the both of them, nearly knocking them off their feet. 

“Where are you going?!” Demanded Reeve, gaining his baring as he watched Adam race down the road.

“To see Vanessa!”

“Who’s Vanessa?!” 

But Adam didn’t have time to look back, he continued on running until he was out of eye’s view.


	5. in which kai answers the door in his pj's and adam ignores chest flutters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah, sorry there was alot of dialogue in the previous chapter. I hope you're all enjoying this! if you're still here after the horrendous last chapter :| I'm not proud that that was mostly speech.
> 
> IF YOU LOVE THE HOLLOW AND WANT A SEASON THREE PLEASE! GO TO @savethehollow ON INSTAGRAM AND SIGN THE PETITION THAT IS IN THEIR BIO! DON'T DONATE SINCE THAT GOES TO THE WEBSITE AND NOT TO THE CAUSE! PLEASE WE CAN SAVE THIS WONDERFUL SHOW!

Running to the start of Kai’s street didn’t take long as it was only a block away but Adam legged it there as fast as he could until his lungs were burning. Vanessa stood against a street lamp and Adam grabbed onto her shoulder, not stopping to chat but quickly let go before she fell. She seemed to catch on that they were running and followed him. However, since she wasn’t the athletic type she had trouble and was lagging behind a tad.

“Why are we running?” She shouted, trying to be louder than the wind roaring in her ears. 

“No talk, explain later, run now.” 

Kai’s neighbourhood was rich. As in rich enough to have a large hedge surround your property like a wall. Adam shook his head, gulping down breaths so he could keep a steady pace. No time for sightseeing. 

He hadn’t forgotten Kai’s house number. Ever since he had first arrived there, and every time he continued to hang out with him. Finally, they reached the end, where the street turned into a cold-e-sac and slowed. Vanessa hunched over, wheezing hard with her lanky skater lungs.

“Jesus Christ Adam,” she let out another strained wheeze. “What are we running from?”

“Come on.” Adam started walking through the gates and along Kia’s pathway.

“Adam!”

He ignored her, heading straight up to his door and ringing the bell, which was literally a brass bell. Vanessa caught up with him, resting on a pilla. She was grasping her chest, gasping for breath. Adam looked around Kai’s front porch, which was more of a wrap aroumd garden surrounding his house. Nothing seemed changed since he had last visited (whenever in the state of time that was) but he didn’t know what he was exactly looking for. The garden could have been the exact same way before The Hollow, back when he wasn’t even friends with Kai.

The door opened and Davis looked upon each of them with both interest and disinterest. 

“Uh, hi! Um, I’m just looking for Kai?”

Davis sniffed. “Mister Kai is busy right now.”

“Sorry, this is really urgent.”

Davis sniffed again, getting the gist that they weren’t going to leave just yet, and disappeared into the… what Kai would call his ‘house’. 

It was silent between the two of them. It hit Adam that before this incident he and Vanessa hadn’t really hung out together alone. It was always with a group or one other person. Even though he wasn’t exactly close to her, she had definitely changed in mindset. She learnt her lesson from when she had dropped Kai during the Hollow, and she had most definitely learnt her lesson from when she tampered with the memory wipe and kept all her memories. She had turned around. She… had more friends now. He thought back to when he ran away from Mira and Reeve. One of them had shouted “who’s Vanessa” and now that he thought about it, it made him feel rather guilty. 

She wasn’t one to come out of her shell, and when she did it took her awhile to warm up to you, so he guessed that before The Hollow she wasn’t surrounded by people who had the best influence around her. Or anyone to have an influence at all. 

He reflected back on what he had just thought. And felt guilty. He didn’t know Vanessa at all, he had no right to make assumptions. 

“Soooo… you came here earlier this morning?”

“Yes.”

“And he claimed not to know you?”

“Not one bit.”

Adam had suspicions of what had happened and it scared him. Considering if Mira and Reeve had got the date right, and today as the 1st of June 2018, then their digital world had gone back in time to before The Hollow trails and training had even started. And if this time was exactly the same as the world that they had been in before, back in 2020 Hollow Life, and The Hollow had never existed at all… then Kai had never become friends with any of them. Least of all Adam. 

“Um hi?”

Kai stood in the doorway and Adam held himself back from laughing. He still had tragic bed hair and was wearing a baggy hoodie that was sprinkled with crumbs. His gaze seemed stuck on Vanessa however, his feature slack as if he was fed up. He hadn’t seemed to notice that Adam was even standing there.

He started to groan, rubbing his eyes frantically. “Look, Veronica-”

“Vanessa, actually.”

“Whatever your name is-”

Kai began to drone on about how he didn’t know who she was. He still hadn’t noticed Adam, his focus all on Vanessa. She rolled his eyes for the third time and finally yanked Adam forward. It seemed to take Kai back and he stopped verbal vomiting. 

“Adam say something.” She demanded, crossing her arms. “Because this is all I’m getting out of him.”

Adam rubbed his neck. “Hi Kai.”

The ginger paused and, if Adam was correct, a light blush was spread over his cheeks. He looked down at his feet and then looked back up, as if he was embarrassed. “H-hi Adam.”

The boys heart fluttered. Did he remember him? Was this some sort of prank after all? Adam bit his lip, subconsciously snapping him out of his hopeful daydream. 

“Do you remember me?”

Kai sighed, smiling sheepishly. “How could I forget our schools start athlete?”

That wasn’t what he wanted to hear. It seemed that Kai had forgotten him along with everything they had been through together. But, a small voice echoed in the back of his mind. Kai still knew him. Yeah sure, not closely like he wanted, but he knew who he was unlike Vanessa, who he didn’t know one bit about. It made his chest flutter again. He shook his head slowly, not the time to think about that.

“And… that's all you know?”

“Well, I know that you’re best friends with Mira and Reeve and you basically do everything together?” He sounded almost jealous. 

Vaness sighed. “Seems like this was a waste of time. Let's go.”

“What were you guys trying to achieve anyway?” Kai asked. “Two people have turned up on my doorstep today asking if I remember them. I feel like I have the right to know why.”

Adam and Vanessa glanced at each other. A silent conversation sort of passed through them. It made Adam wonder, for a split second, if maybe they were on The Hollow together would they’ve made a good team. Vanessa let out a small sigh. Her breathing had returned to normal after running here. “Fine, but we aren’t doing it here.” She looked Kai up and down. “Also go get changed, you look like a mess.”


	6. in which the story is explained and no, kai, you aren't dead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol, i actually really enjoyed this chapter. this is the most chapter's I've posted for a while.
> 
> THE HOLLOW HAS BEEN CANCELLED! IF YOU LOVE THIS SHOW AS MUCH AS I DO, PLEASE GO TO @savethehollow ON INSTAGRAM WHERE YOU CAN FIND A PETITION LINK TO SAE THIS WONDERFUL SHOW! DOM'T DONATE SINCE THIS DOES NOT GIVE MONEY TO THE CAUSE BUT RATHER TO THE WEBSITE! PLEASE HELP SAVE THIS WONDERFUL SHOW! IT'S FANDOM IS ONLY GETTING BIGGER AND STRONGER!

“Thank you!” The waiter walked away and Vanessa took a large sip of her drink. 

Where could they begin?

“So, have I been in a freak accident or something and lost my memories?”

“No.” 

“Oh my god, have I died?”

“No!” They groaned out. Kai slumped down in his seat.

“Well, what's going on then?”

Adm twirled his drink in his hands, staring at the liquid that swilled around the insides of the cup. “Well it all started 3 years ago, or well 3 years ago for us anyway,” Adam explained everything and anything, including things that Vanessa wasn’t even told about. The drama with Reeve, the trials, his anger issues, meeting Kai and finally the big issue- when they find out that they were the only AI’s in the world. How they all got spread throughout Hollow Life and in the end, The Hollow game that was being played by real-life people. He explained that Nisha, Tyler and Iris didn't have the best first impression but they ended up working together to defeat the final boss. He also excluded some parts, like how they had held hands while jumping through the portal into the game. It was irrelevant, and he wasn’t quite sure as to why he remembered it, but the butterflies he got in his stomach made him smile. The smile he had around Kai and the smile he had when he thought about being around Kai. 

He started to speak about how Skeet died but cut himself off before bile could rise to his throat and mouth.

“Lost who?”

“It’s nothing,” snapped Vanessa. “We’ll explain it another time.”

“Anyway, our point, in the end, is that we’re an online system, pixels, pieces of code.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah,” mumbled Adam. “It is a little much to take in.”

“That's the biggest load of trash I’ve heard in ages.”

“Yeah- wait, what?” Vanessa spat out her drink. Kai had a look on his face which Adam couldn’t describe. It was as if it was a mix between betrayal and annoyance. He quickly finished his drink and started to stand up, shuffling out of the booth. Vanessa and Ada sat in shock. They were feeling so many emotions, every part, every detail (except for the ones he didn’t need to know about). And Kai was walking away like it was one big giant lie.

“Kai!” Vanessa called. “We’re telling the truth!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Why would we make this up?” Adam groaned, running his hands through his hair.

“I don’t know, Adam, why would you?” He slumped back in his seat. There had been venom in Kai’s voice and it scared him. He was losing him, again.

“Kai, please!” Vanessa lowered her voice, they were starting to gain looks from other customers in the cafe. “We’re not lying.”

“Then how come I can feel these emotions? How can we touch and how can we eat, drink, sleep,  _ dream _ ?”

“We can’t answer those because we don’t know..” Vanessa sounded desperate and if you looked closely at her fingers that were clenched around her cup, you would be able to see her shaking slightly. Just like Adam had freaked out before, she was slowly slipping too. Adam had seen her upset before but this was on a whole new level- this time she was scared. And so was he. Terrified even.

He stood up abruptly before he could watch Kai leave and grabbed onto his hand. He could feel him tense up underneath his grip and his breath hitch. His hand was sticky with a sort of sweat. Kai’s eyes darted from where his hand was being held by the other and then back up to Adams's eyes before he ripped it from his grip. “Please don’t Adam. I thought you were better than this.”

The bell chimed as Kai stormed out of the cafe and Adam slumped down in his seat.

That could have gone better.


	7. in which they figure everything will be alright

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE HOLLOW HAS BEEN CANCELLED! GO TO @savethehollow ON INSTAGRAM TO SIGN A PETITION THAT IS IN THEIR BIO! PLEASE, IF YOU LOVE THIS SHOW AS MUCH AS ME GO SAVE IT! WE CAN'T LET IT GO!

“What do we do now?” 

“I don’t know.”

“I mean, we were, are, the only ones that know whats going on.”

“Vanessa-”

“Are we going to die?”

“Vanessa!” Adam shouted. “Just stop, we’re going to figure this out!”

They had just finished discussing what they think had happened. Of course, neither of them were tech-savvy so their idea was just practical and a little vague. For example, they had gone back in time, or more like their world had been reset to prior The Hollow. And somehow their friends had lost all memories from the game and afterwards. What terrified the two the most was how the creators of the Hollow had known what their life was like before they had even known about the game. But they didn’t dwell on it since it was likely to be unimportant and quite frankly, it scared him. 

But they weren’t sure about how to get things back to normal. 

“Do you reckon that things will continue on as usual?” Vanessa mumbled. 

Currently, they were sitting outside where the Hollow’s HQ was supposedly meant to be. After the accident with Kai, they decided to return to the root of all their problems. But once they broke into the building they found it bare. Completely abandoned, with no trace that the game had ever existed, unlike before. 

They looked over their town. The sunset in the digital sky and the digital clouds were like wisps of fluff over the twilight sky. 

“I find it funny how life goes on in this place,” Vanessa said, not letting Adam come up with a reply. “How everything goes on as normal. Like we’re in the real world.”

“They probably monitor everything.” 

“Maybe.” She sighed. “But that still doesn’t exactly stop them from being NPC’s.” There was a short silence.

“Everyone here is exactly like they were in the material world though.” Adam pointed out. “It’s as if we never left.”

“But what are our limits?” She grumbled. “Because, the way we’re going, we’re immortal.” She laughed. “One day we’ll get shut down and we’ll never know because the world would have exploded or something.” She continued to laugh, but it was mirthless. Adam could only look out over the distance, his shoulders sagging the more Vanessa went on.

“But do you know what the worst part is?”

Adam glanced at her with his peripheral vision. “What?”

She grinned and bumped shoulders with him. “Having to see everyone’s ugly faces every day. Because in reality, they’re the only ones who know what's happening.”

Adam rolled his eyes. Typical she would say that.

“But all of that is over now. Our relationship with Kai is near enough ruined, no point even speaking to him again.” She sighed, planting her hands on the ground and pushed herself up. As she towered over him, he stared up at her with the fake wind blowing her hair, Adam had a feeling that it would all be ok. And if the others never return to normal then… Vanessa wasn’t perhaps the  _ worst  _ person in the world to spend the digital life with.

Maybe they could be pretty good friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i reallyhate this chapter, i just sort of wasn't writing it on a good day BUT IS MY SOLEMN DUTY TO WRITE THIS! uwu anyway, sorry it's short lol  
> oh well, my grammars shit


End file.
